~~ Shooters~~

[Quentin]

Originally Posted by Ron Smith

A shooter Luger, is just that, a shooter. Mismatched, East German or Russian reworks(these are beginning to rise above "shooter" catagory), a pitted or "Bubba" re-blued example, or one that you assembled yourself from parts. ...

Well my P08 shooter certainly lives up to this definition!

In 1975 I was hot to get a Luger. I looked at all the pretty ones, authentic and the post-war Mausers, but they were out of my price range. Then I stumbled across an ugly duckling at a pawn shop. The price was the lowest I'd seen for a P08, I think $150, but even I as a novice could tell it was a parts gun. The frame and toggle assembly were DWM and the barrel and plum colored receiver were from a 1938 S/42 Mauser. Counting up all the mismatched numbers, the parts came from about 15 different P08s! But it met my requirements: Luger, cheap and 9mm.

Surprisingly it turned out to be a reliable shooter with thousands of rounds over 30+ years and only one broken part, the big rear axle pin which of course was an easy fix.

Then I bought a DWM 1913 barreled receiver on eBay so was able to turn the pistol into period correct WWI Luger (though it still had parts from about 15 different Lugers). Later I found a complete S/42 marked toggle assembly to complete the 1938 Mauser barreled receiver. I got very lucky, both uppers (with either toggle assembly) function reliably on the DWM frame. None of the parts have been refinished or reblued since there is no point.

So I can have a WWI shooter or change uppers to have what appears to be a WWII shooter (the frame is not).

Of course it was a dumb way to go about it and lucky it worked. I should have sold the mixmaster and bought something better but it's hard to sell a working shooter for peanuts then hope to find something better that may or may not work as well.

Now my other P08, a lightly used 1941 byf, is too valuable to shoot so guess which one is more fun!